ARSENAL face a real test to keep up with Leicester as they travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United. Chris Graham (@chrisgraham79) shares his bets.
Manchester United v Arsenal | Sunday 14:05 | Sky Sports 1
Before the League Cup Final gets underway at 16:30 this match provides an excellent hors d'oeuvres, although to be honest it hardly carries the mantle of yore with the home side struggling.
Down in sixth place and with real concerns of missing out in the Champions League again Manchester United are as big as 5/2 to win here in their own back garden. An unthinkable price just a couple of years ago.
My gut feel is that bookmakers have gone too far here in chalking up United at those odds and I'm trying to find an angle and build a case for getting with them on Sunday.
For starters it's been a rare good week for the club. On Monday night they cruised past banana skins and Shrewsbury in the FA Cup to reach the Quarter-Finals.
Three nights after that they came back from going 1-0 (and 3-1 on aggregate) down to FC Midtjylland in the Europa League to win 5-1 on the night and take their place at the Last 16 table of that particular competition.
The team are utterly ravaged by injury which is causing problems and that's definitely factored into the price but hopefully some of these fringe players can step up.
Another positive in the United case is their decent home record. It's one of the few big pluses of Louis Van Gaal's tenure actually and this season they've lost just two of their 20 Old Trafford games. Within that run they've beaten Wolfsburg, Tottenham and Liverpool.
Arsenal arrive here on the back of their unfortunate 2-0 home loss to Barcelona midweek. Another Last 16 Champions League exit looks assured but is this the year they win the league?
That's still too hard a question to answer even this deep into the season but a win here would be a big step forward. At just 7/5 I'm happy to swerve it.
For starters Arsenal have won just two of their last seven away games in the Premier League. They lost at West Brom, were destroyed at Southampton and dropped points at Norwich, Stoke and Liverpool.
They lost at Chelsea earlier in the season, lost at White Hart Lane last season, haven't won in three at Anfield and haven't won in a decade at Old Trafford in the league. Those are compelling facts.
Like two weeks ago when they squeezed past Leicester, a win here would be a huge step towards winning the title for the first time in 12 years but at the prices I don't fancy it.
As injury hit are Manchester United are I think they can be competitive here and I'll back the draw at 27/11 with 888 Sport. To supplement that I'll also back the 1-1 scoreline at 6/1 with Bet Victor. United have conceded just five goals at home in the league this season.
Best Bets
Manchester United v Arsenal – Draw (27/11 888 Sport)
Manchester United v Arsenal – 1-1 Draw (6/1 BetVictor)
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